Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday, recalled Jawaharlal Nehru's “most unusual” visit to Bhutan, his reminder of the trek coming the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Himalayan kingdom.
“The Prime Minister is in Bhutan today. Sixty seven years ago, India's first PM had made a most unusual visit to Bhutan,” Ramesh wrote in a post on X.
Nehru’s trip involved trekking for five days to reach Paro, he reminded, and said that the trip determined the course of the special relationship the two countries have had for almost seven decades.
Ramesh recounted how India’s first prime minister, accompanied by daughter Indira Gandhi and senior officials Jagat Mehta, Nari Rustomji, and Apa Pant, “first flew to Bagdogra and then drove via Gangtok to Nathu La on a road that had just been constructed.”
At Nathu La, the delegation “was met with a dozen yaks, several ponies, and a pack of over a hundred animals.”
What followed was a five-day trek, covering 50 km and reaching altitudes of up to 15,500 feet. Nehru and his team reached Paro on September 23, 1958, for a five-day stay filled with official meetings and cultural engagements. They later trekked back the same way.
Ramesh called it an “extraordinary visit under very difficult conditions by a prime minister about to turn 69,” adding that the arduous journey “was to determine the course of the special relationship that Bhutan and India have had for almost seven decades.”
The Congress leader referred to Jagat Mehta’s book Catalysing Graduated Modernisation Through Diplomacy: Nehru’s Visit to Bhutan(1958).
According to the book, the visit was “unplanned” but became a landmark in Indo-Bhutan relations.
Mehta described the visit as “a hazardous and physically demanding diplomatic mission, in defiance of medical caution and governmental hesitation.”
Nehru took a route where “no mechanised transport could be used beyond the Sikkim border.” The journey demanded trekking at 10,000 feet, riding ponies, using yaks on steep gradients, and navigating “narrow stony pathways.”
Helicopters of the time, Mehta noted, could not even cross the outer Himalayan ranges.
“Bhutan was the last closed country in the world,” the book states.
Citing earlier centuries, it recalls the legacy of Guru Padmasambhava in the eighth century, the establishment of monarchy under the Wangchuk family in the early twentieth century, and the Treaty of Sinchula in 1865 after conflicts around Cooch Behar.
Against this backdrop, Nehru’s decision to go “confident of his democratic popularity, and with a youthful spirit of adventure” laid foundations that shaped Bhutan’s modern engagement with India according to the book.
Jagat Mehta’s book Catalysing Graduated Modernisation Through Diplomacy: Nehru’s Visit to Bhutan(1958) Pic: Sourced by The Telegraph
According to Mehta, the exertions proved “crucial to the security of India” and to Bhutan’s survival of its distinct identity.
In his account, Mehta says, “In retrospect, the significance of Nehru's journey cannot be underestimated. It was the last time that any Indian dignitary went to Bhutan through Tibet but that only underlines its happenstance importance.”
“If Prime Minister Nehru had not succeeded in confidence-building and encouraged the graduated opening of communications, it is possible that the road into Thimpu may not even have started for many years and correspondingly delaying its completion, and Bhutan would have perforce remained largely economically dependent on the Tibet connection. The process of internal development and political emancipation would have got stultified or not have preserved Bhutan's cultural and religious personality,” says Mehta.
Now, at the invitation of the Bhutanese government, PM Modi will participate in celebrations marking the 70th birth anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
In a statement ahead of the trip, Modi said it would be his “honour to join the people of Bhutan” on the special occasion. The visit will also see the inauguration of the Punatsangchhu-II hydropower project.
“The exposition of the Sacred Piprahwa Relics of Lord Buddha from India during the Global Peace Prayer Festival in Bhutan reflects our two countries’ deep-rooted civilisational and spiritual ties," the Prime Minister said.
During the visit, Modi will meet His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, His Majesty the Fourth King, and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. He expressed confidence that the trip will “further deepen our bonds of friendship and strengthen our efforts towards shared progress and prosperity."
India and Bhutan share what Modi described as “exemplary ties of friendship and cooperation, rooted in deep mutual trust, understanding, and goodwill."